Dr. Tom Ferraro: Cat Hospital offers purrfect care

The Island Now

“The naming of cats is a difficult matter. It isn’t just one of your holiday games.You may think at first I’m mad as a hatter when I tell you a cat must have three different names” by T.S. Eliot’s The Naming of Cats in Old Possum’s book of Practical Cats.

It appears that T.S.Eliot, one of America’s most famed poets and author of “The Wasteland,” had a fondness for cats. His book “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” inspired Andrew Lloyd Weber to create the Broadway smash “Cats,”  which ran for 18 years to sell-out crowds, was translated into 20 languages and won every Tony Award. 

It seems that there are lots of people who love cats. The song Memories, song by Grizabella the cat, is now an American classic. In fact our very own Dr. Eric Bregman who owns The Cat Hospital with his father Jack told me that 25 percent of households in America have a cat.

Bregman has been running the Cat Hospital at 2 Hillside Avenue for 15 years. I know him well since he is in the same building that my office is in. Right there by the railroad tracks.  

Eric in fact owns three other cat hospitals in Brooklyn, which I think makes him an expert though he did correct me and said with all humility, “don’t call me an expert, just say my practice in limited to cats.” 

Okay his practice is limited to cats but he’s a cat expert to me.  Years ago he asked me to contribute to his website (bregmanvetgroup.com) by suggesting ways to help his clients to get over the grief of losing their cat. Cats live only about 15 to 20 years so it is in inevitable they will pass on before you. 

I recommended they take some time to share their grief with family members to get a sense of closure, and get some support as they shed tears. Dr. Bregman said cats become a member of the family so the loss of one is very painful and your grief is nothing to feel ashamed of.

I got a chance to ask Dr. Bregman about his career and his thoughts about cats. He told me he got into the business since his dad was a vet and he was around animals his whole life.  He went to University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School and has been practicing for 17 years. He is the president of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society so he is not so busy that he cannot find time to give back a little bit.  

His brother Allan is also a devoted cat vet and owns some of the businesses in Brooklyn. Eric told me it helps to have a family business because you can work with people you trust and you love.  

I asked him to describe cats and he said they were solitary creatures that make good companions.  When I asked for some vet tips he said you should have your cat examined at least once a year to catch illnesses, infections or dental problems before they get out of hand. 

He told me that house cats live longer than cats that are let outside since the threat of cars, wild animals and disease is greater when they leave the safety of your home.  

I finished the interview by asking him to free associate to the following names and here is what he said:

• Tom And Jerry “I  loved that cartoon”

• “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss “I read it when I was a kid”

• Mr. Bigglesworth the bald cat in the Austin Powers movie “ That’s a sphinx cat, very unusual looking animal”

• Tyson’s tiger in the film “The Hangover” “People would be advised never to have large wild  animals as house pets”

• The cowardly lion in the “Wizard of Oz” “a tragic character”

So the next time you see your cat sitting there and gazing out the window remember what T. S. Eliot said, “When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason , I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: his ineffable, effable, Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name.”

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